Then came dueling attorney press conferences, some hours apart, unsettling video evidence and witness accounts that introduced conflicting narratives of the events leading to Smith's death.

The result, a week after the April 9 shooting, has been the jarring and rapid shift of the crime's public narrative, from the apparent road-rage killing of a football star to a complex mystery, questions about gun and self-defense laws, possible connections to a police killing after Hurricane Katrina and a demand from the defense that the New Orleans Police Department hands off the investigation to an outside agency.

"While this was an isolated incident, it is certainly tragic at every level and on all sides," the city's police chief, Michael Harrison, told reporters hours after the shooting. "One life is over, and another life is ruined."

Several questions remain unanswered as the investigation shifts to Orleans Parish prosecutors for what is likely to be a fiercely contested case centered on a single issue: Did Cardell Hayes, the man accused of pulling the trigger, murder Will Smith in cold blood - shooting him eight times, seven times in the back? Or, as his defense team has suggested, was Hayes provoked into shooting Smith in self-defense?

'A friendly get-together'

The last hours of Will Smith's life have been pieced together based on witness accounts and social media posts.

Smith, 34, and his wife Racquel spent the afternoon at the French Quarter Festival, "having a blast," as he wrote alongside an Instagram photo of the couple he posted just hours before his death.

By around 9:45 p.m., they showed up at Sake Cafe on Magazine Street, where they dined with five other friends, including former teammate Pierre Thomas and retired NOPD Capt. William Ceravolo.

"It was just a friendly get-together," said Dave Matherne, Sake Cafe's general manager. "It looked like everybody was having a good time."

In between those two destinations, attorneys for Hayes suggest the couple may have visited at least one, if not two French Quarter strip clubs. In court Friday, attorneys John Fuller and Jay Daniels filed motions to preserve surveillance video from The Penthouse Club and from Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, saying afterward that "numerous sources" placed Smith and his wife at either one or both of those places before their dinner.

An attorney representing the Smith family, Peter Thomson, said the defense's claim was "absolutely false but not unexpected," and called it a "desperate" effort to mislead the public.

Fuller had said earlier in the week that he believed toxicology results would "shed some light on the behavior of some of the participants" present at the scene of Smith's killing.

"I know there were parties that were intoxicated or under the influence of some type of mind-altering substance, based on appearances," Fuller said.

Toxicology test results from Will Smith's autopsy could take weeks to complete, the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office has said.

Roughly an hour and a half after they arrived at Sake Cafe, Smith and his wife, along with a second as-yet unidentified couple, jumped inside Smith's Mercedes-Benz SUV and left. Thomson said Will and Racquel Smith planned to take the second couple to their car. Will Smith was in the driver's seat, Thomson said, and not "inebriated to the point" of being unable to drive.

Around 11:21 p.m., as they drove along Magazine Street, they came upon Hayes' orange Hummer H2. The 28-year-old father's whereabouts before the few minutes leading up to Smith's death are still unknown, but Sake Cafe's general manager said no one at the restaurant remembered seeing Hayes or his distinctive Hummer that night.

From the football field to the courtroom

There was a time when Cardell Hayes could have drawn comparisons to the man to whom he is now forever linked. Like Smith, Hayes was a high school standout at defensive end, praised for his size and speed and considered among Louisiana's top football prospects during his 2004 season at Warren Easton High School.

A report in The Times-Picayune the following year said Hayes enrolled at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette after high school. His name, however, does not show up on the university's football roster.

Then Hurricane Katrina hit. Four months later, his father, Anthony Hayes, was pepper sprayed and shot nine times by New Orleans police outside a Walgreen's on St. Charles Avenue, not far from where Smith would later die.

The elder Hayes suffered from mental illness and had been armed with a small knife when he was confronted by officers, according to a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by his family against the city and six NOPD officers.

The city eventually settled with the Hayes family in 2011 for an undisclosed amount. The case resurfaced in the public's eye immediately after Smith's death because among the defendants in one of the lawsuits was William Ceravolo, the retired NOPD captain who had been with Smith at Sake Cafe on April 9.

Though the revelation helped fuel speculation that Hayes possibly targeted Smith for his friendship with Ceravolo, no information has emerged to suggest the connection is anything more than an eerie coincidence.

Hayes eventually started his own towing company, and incorporated a home business called Pocket Monster Bullies, which appears to be related to his stated hobby of dog breeding. He also joined the Crescent City Kings, a semi-professional football team, where he played with former Warren Easton teammate Kevin O'Neal.

'A gentle bump'

Hayes and O'Neal were inside Hayes' orange Hummer H2 around 11:21 p.m. Saturday when, according to Hayes' attorney, they were the victims of a hit-and-run involving Smith's SUV.

Surveillance video from a Magazine Street restaurant appears to show Smith's SUV rear-ending Hayes' Hummer, and then continue past it as the Hummer starts to pull to the curb. The video then shows the Hummer pursuing Smith's SUV.

Fuller said Hayes followed Smith's car because Smith drove off after hitting Hayes' vehicle. But Thomson, the Smith family lawyer, characterized the contact between both vehicles as "a gentle bump," one that Smith quickly determined caused no damage.

"There was no reason to pull over, whatsoever," Thomson said.

The brief pursuit ended on Sophie Wright near Felicity Street, when Hayes' Hummer crashed into Smith's SUV, sending it into a third car - a Chevrolet Impala driven by as-yet unidentified friends of the Smiths.

'Things were escalating'

The two imposing men - both well over six-feet tall -- exchanged words after the crash, New Orleans police said. Witness accounts describe an intense argument that preceded the shooting.

Alex Richerand lives near the intersection where Smith was killed. He heard the car crash and shouting, and stepped outside to see a shirtless man "running around looking pretty frantic."

"Things were escalating," Richerand said, adding he heard the gunshots as he went inside to grab his phone to take video of the argument.

The identity of the man Richerand described remains unknown. Fuller previously said that someone besides Hayes and O'Neal was "behaving in a threatening nature" that night, while NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune photos taken minutes after the shooting show Smith, Hayes and O'Neal - Hayes' passenger - all wearing shirts.

In a statement released through his attorney, Tanzanika Ruffin, O'Neal said he feared for his safety before the shooting.

"I guess this guy was like, 'Get out of here or I have a gun,'" the witness says to the camera. "And he goes, 'F--- y'all, I got one too.' And he grabs the gun and then he shoots him in the back. He's dead."

The man's account makes no mention of who said what. But it supports an early assertion from Hayes' legal team that their client's gun was not the only one present that Saturday night.

New Orleans police initially said that only one gun was visible to responding officers: the .45-caliber handgun used to kill Smith and wound his wife. All of the shell casings collected at the scene matched that weapon, police added, indicating that another weapon - even if present - was not fired.

Three days after the shooting, police announced that a search Tuesday turned up a fully loaded 9 mm handgun inside Smith's SUV, and a fully loaded revolver inside Hayes' Hummer.

While some, including Hayes' attorney, criticized police for taking three days to find the other weapons, legal experts credited the department with acting cautiously by first seeking a warrant in a high-profile investigation.

'The killer'

One day after police announced the discovery of both handguns, attorneys for Hayes and the Smith family held press conferences, hours apart. Referring to Hayes as "the killer" throughout his remarks, Thomson sought to dispel notions that Smith did anything to justify the shooting.

"I'm aware of nothing that Will Smith did that would cause this killer to be afraid for his life," Thomson said. "There's nothing Will Smith could have ever said to have caused that specific intent to shoot and kill him and specific intent to shoot his wife."

Thomson instead told reporters Racquel Smith and another woman, whom he did not identify, sought to defuse the argument between Smith and Hayes.

Racquel Smith "was actually telling the shooter, before the shooting occurred, 'Leave us alone. Go back to your car. We have children. This is not worth this,'" Thomson said.

Yet Hayes followed Smith and his wife, Thomson said, and opened fire, shooting Racquel Smith twice in her legs before turning the gun on her husband. Thomson said one of the bullets shattered Racquel Smith's femur. The Orleans Parish Coroner's Office said seven bullets entered Smith's back, the eighth striking his "left lateral chest."

"We have evidence that the killer showed no remorse whatsoever," Thomson said, "that he actually stood over Will Smith's dead body, as his wife had crawled away because she couldn't walk, and is cowering."

Responding with his own press conference hours later, Fuller told reporters that a witness could testify to seeing a gun in Will Smith's possession before the shooting.

"Cardell Hayes was not the aggressor," Fuller told reporters. He noted Hayes did not attempt to run after the shooting, but instead remained at the scene, waiting for police to arrive.

Heading to court

While some evidence has come to light, more details are expected during an April 28 preliminary hearing, provided prosecutors don't secure a grand jury indictment before that date. One potential crucial piece of evidence could be the existence of additional cellphone or surveillance videos taken that night.

During one of his press conferences, Fuller suggested such video exists.

"We want that video," Fuller said, "because I know what it's going to show, and it's going to show that my client is legally not guilty."

Such footage could show whether Smith had a gun in his hand before being shot, whether Hayes' followed Smith to the SUV and shot Racquel Smith first, and whether anyone else at the scene had any involvement in the events leading up to the shooting.

Hayes and Smith each had been arrested before the tragic events of April 9. While relatively minor in nature, the arrests could also play a role in court proceedings.

New Orleans police in 2010 stopped Hayes' Chevrolet SUV for failing to use a turn signal and for a broken license plate light, court records show. Officers recovered a loaded, .45-caliber Ruger from inside the car, which Hayes told the officers about at the time of the traffic stop. In a cup holder, they found a bottle of Tylenol with codeine that lacked a prescription.

After being unable to provide proof of ownership for the Ruger, authorities booked Hayes with illegally carrying a weapon and illegal possession of codeine. He eventually pleaded guilty in January 2014 to the weapons charge and to possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors, and received a six-month suspended sentence.

Lafayette police arrested Smith in 2010 for domestic abuse battery and public intoxication. Police said Smith grabbed Racquel Smith's hair and started to pull her down the street during an argument near a Lafayette nightclub. The charges were dropped two years later, reports show, after Smith completed community service and domestic violence counseling, and at the request of his wife.

Others who dinned with the Smiths, and who were seen at the crime shortly after the shooting may also play a role in the legal case. Fuller has subpoenaed Pierre Thomas and William Ceravolo. His legal maneuvering also included successfully asking for a court order to preserve video evidence from two French Quarter strip clubs.

Fuller also sent a letter to New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu asking that NOPD be removed from the Smith case based on what Fuller called "a grave lack of faith in the honesty and competency" of the department's investigation.

The letter does not list specific allegations against the department, though Fuller has suggested crime scene tampering could have taken place. NOPD spokesman Tyler Gamble responded to Fuller's letter by saying the department has no plans to step back from the investigation. Louisiana State Police on Saturday dismissed the defense's request to take over the investigation.

"I don't know if I've ever heard of trying to recuse a police department," said defense attorney Pat Fanning, who called Fuller's request "very unusual and unlikely to be successful."

"Why would you want police off the case when you can cross-examine them?" as Fanning, who is not representing anyone connected to the case.

'Our city is broken'

News of Smith's death quickly spread, as did the outpouring of condolences. A memorial of flowers and Saints items sprouted up at the Lower Garden District intersection where he lost his life. Hundreds if not thousands of people attended a visitation and memorial service at the team's practice facility, as well as a second line in his honor.

While many expressed sadness over his death, some also used the moment to speak out against New Orleans' epidemic of gun violence.

"Our city is broken," Saints head coach Sean Payton told USA Today as he railed against the country's gun culture.

"Two hundred years from now, they're going to look back and say, 'What was that madness about?'" Payton told the newspaper.

Some legal observers contend that Smith's death will likely prove to be another test to "stand-your-ground" laws, and whether Hayes is convicted of murder will depend on whether the state can convince a jury he was the aggressor during the argument leading up to the shooting.

"If he's in a place where he's lawfully allowed to be, he's not the aggressor, and he's in a situation facing serious bodily injury or death, he can use his weapon," said Ben LaBranche, a Baton Rouge criminal defense attorney.